Redux Riding Hood Redux

In the mid-1990’s, Disney animation was on a high- The Lion King and Toy Story were exciting audiences and driving people in to theaters and back to animation. In those heady days, Disney was wanting to try new things in the short department, too: Runaway Brain was the first new Mickey Mouse short in over 40 years. And then there was Redux Riding Hood…

During these times, a whole new series was contemplated. To be titled Totally Twisted Fairy Tales, the series would be a theatrical Disney version of Fractured Fairy Tales. Initially, four shorts were planned. Three were even started… the other two being “Jack in the Beanstalk” and “The Three Little Pigs.” Only the one was ever made- produced in New Zealand and directed by Steve Moore. Unfortunately, the powers that be had taken a different tack, and the series was quashed. And that one film- despite being nominated for an Academy Award- was relegated for a limited release in the art film circuit. Until now. Director Steve Moore has uploaded a version to Youtube so that this very rare and funny short can be seen and enjoyed again.

Director Moore gives a great account of the production of the featurette on his animation Flip Blog. He recouts that Redux Riding Hood “would take me to the sixth row at the Oscars. Dan O’Shannon, one of the top sit-com writers around, had written a script about a wolf who, obsessed with his failure to catch Red Riding Hood, builds a time machine to go back and do it right. It was Dan’s concept, and the script was hilarious.”

He goes on to discuss his choices in production design, casting and the jazz soundtrack. But most importantly, he brings the film back out for people to enjoy once again. The film is viewable on the video page from our Redux Riding Hood page.